It's Always The Husband by C L Taylor

It’s Always the Husband by C.L. Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages -

Publisher - Avon

Source - ARC

Blurb from Goodreads

The school gates have never been so dangerous…

When newly divorced Jude arrives in the small town of Lowbridge, she is soon drawn to the enigmatic Will, father to her young daughter's best friend.

But Will's devastating past holds questions that nobody knows the answer to – and after two tragedies tore his life apart in just a few short years, gossip and rumours abound about what really happened to the women he loved.

Because whilst one dead wife is tragic, two starts to look like murder…



My Review

Jude has just recently moved into a small town post divorce, she can't warm to the mums who convene at the school gates gossipy judgement oozing out of them. She is however drawn to Will, one of the single dads at the gates and they get on, they have young daughters of the same age and there is no denying the attraction. When Jude finally goes to a group meet set up by the driving force that is Victoria, head mum she is pumped for info about her relationship with Will. In between the gossip and alcohol Jude also finds out why they hate Will so much. His first wife died and his girlfriend went missing, the group is worried for her whilst spilling some gossip and secrets of their own.

So the book goes between the key characters povs, Jude, Victoria, Victoria's ex Andy (who is a cop btw), Sorrell across X days. With a creepy eerie suspense building like what is Will's deal, the domestics between Victoria and Andy (they have kids so custody and all the jazz). Victoria is a total PTA mum but also in everybody's business, little miss popular, its a bit of a bitch and a control freak. The group is a very mixed dynamic, Jude is over their nonsense before even getting fully embroiled in it all but she needs info. What she does hear only makes her want to do some more digging, she has her own trauma from the past which pushes her on and her needs for answers.

Oooooh what a bitchy wee town, gossip, drama, secrets, suspense, thriller, trauma, like this has it all. I have been having some hard readers block but this pulls you in and lets you absorb all their drama/chaos/suspense so you can pause your own life for a bit. This is one of the reasons I love reading so when you can't it is super stressful, this book pulled me out of mine. Full absorption, some shady characters, skulduggery and who doesn't like scandal in a small town that isn't your own, 4.5/5. We are big fans of Taylor's work and yet to read one we didn't like, yet another fab read of dastardly deeds, dodgy biscuit people and a whole lot of drama and danger!

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